PPC Audit Checklist 2026: 25 Checks to Stop Wasting Ad Spend

By User Flows Team · April 2026 · 12 min read

The average Google Ads account wastes 20-30% of its budget. That's not a scare tactic from an agency pitch deck. It's what you find when you actually look at where the money goes: irrelevant search terms, broad match keywords running unchecked, landing pages that don't convert, and campaigns that haven't been restructured since 2022.

This checklist gives you 25 specific things to check in your PPC account. Each one can be done in Google Ads or with free tools. No paid software required. If you haven't audited your account in the last 90 days, you're almost certainly leaving money on the table.

PPC is one of the five channels in our complete marketing audit framework. Start there if you want the full picture across all channels.

Account Structure (Checks 1-5)

A poorly structured account is the root cause of most PPC problems. Before you touch keywords or ads, make sure the foundation is right.

1. Does your campaign structure match your business?

Each campaign should represent a distinct business goal, product line, or audience segment. If you have one campaign called "All Products" with 40 ad groups, that's a problem. You can't set different budgets, bid strategies, or geo-targets at the ad group level. Break campaigns apart so each one has a clear purpose and its own budget.

2. Are brand and non-brand campaigns separated?

Brand keywords (your company name, product names) and non-brand keywords (generic terms like "running shoes" or "marketing software") perform completely differently. Brand campaigns typically convert at 3-5x the rate of non-brand. If they're mixed together, your reporting is meaningless. You'll think non-brand is performing better than it is because brand is inflating the averages. Always separate them.

3. Do you have too many or too few ad groups?

Each ad group should contain tightly themed keywords that share the same intent. If an ad group has more than 15-20 keywords, it's probably too broad and your ads can't be specific enough. If you have hundreds of ad groups with one keyword each, you're overcomplicating management. Aim for 5-15 keywords per ad group, all closely related.

4. Are campaign settings correct?

Check every campaign for these common setting mistakes: network targeting that includes Search Partners or Display (unless intentional), location targeting set to "Presence or interest" instead of "Presence" only, ad rotation not optimized, and language settings that are too broad. These defaults silently waste budget. Google sets them to maximize its revenue, not yours.

5. Is your budget allocation aligned with performance?

Pull last 90 days of data by campaign. Sort by cost-per-conversion or ROAS. Are your best-performing campaigns budget-constrained while underperformers run freely? This is the single most common waste in PPC accounts. Shift budget from campaigns with high CPA to campaigns with low CPA. Sounds obvious, but most accounts don't do this regularly enough.

Keywords and Match Types (Checks 6-12)

6. What does your search terms report actually show?

Go to Insights & Reports > Search Terms. Filter for the last 30 days. Sort by cost. Read the actual queries people typed that triggered your ads. If you find irrelevant terms eating budget, you've found free money. This single check recovers more wasted spend than any other item on this list. Do it weekly, not monthly.

7. When did you last update your negative keyword list?

Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches. If your list hasn't been updated in the last 30 days, it's stale. Build negative keyword lists at the account level for terms that are universally irrelevant (jobs, salary, free, DIY, complaints) and at the campaign level for terms that bleed between campaigns.

8. Are you over-relying on broad match?

Broad match gives Google maximum latitude to match your keyword to search queries. With Performance Max and AI-driven bidding, Google pushes broad match hard. It can work well with smart bidding and strong conversion tracking, but only if you're monitoring search terms aggressively. If you're running broad match without reviewing search terms weekly, you're trusting Google to spend your money wisely. Check your match type distribution and make sure you're comfortable with the trade-off.

9. Do you have keyword conflicts between campaigns?

If the same keyword (or close variants) exists in multiple campaigns, they compete against each other in the auction. This drives up your costs and makes reporting unreliable. Use the Google Ads Editor to export all keywords and check for duplicates. Consolidate or use negative keywords to route traffic to the correct campaign.

10. Are you bidding on competitor names?

Competitor keyword campaigns can work, but they're expensive and convert poorly. If you're running them, check the numbers honestly. What's the CPA compared to your non-brand campaigns? If it's 3-5x higher, that budget might deliver better results elsewhere. Competitor campaigns should be deliberate strategic choices, not forgotten experiments.

11. What's your keyword quality score distribution?

In Google Ads, add the Quality Score column to your keyword view. Filter for keywords with significant spend. Quality scores of 7+ are good. Scores of 5-6 are average. Below 5 means Google thinks your keyword, ad, and landing page aren't aligned. Low quality scores increase your CPC by 25-400%. Fix these by improving ad relevance and landing page experience, or pause them.

12. Are you using the right keyword match types for your budget?

Small budgets (under $5K/month) should lean heavily on exact match and phrase match to maintain control. Larger budgets can afford to test broad match with smart bidding. If you're spending $2,000/month on mostly broad match keywords, you don't have enough volume for Google's algorithms to optimize effectively. Tighten your match types and let the data guide expansion.

Ad Copy and Creative (Checks 13-17)

13. Are you running Responsive Search Ads with enough variety?

Google requires Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) for all standard search campaigns. Each RSA needs up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. If you've only filled in the minimum (3 headlines, 2 descriptions), Google has very little to test with. Write at least 8-10 distinct headlines covering different angles: features, benefits, social proof, urgency, and specific offers. Give the algorithm something to work with.

14. Do your ads match the search intent?

Look at your top-spending ad groups. Read the keywords, then read the ads. Does the ad directly address what the person searched for? If someone searches "emergency plumber Seattle" and your ad says "Quality Plumbing Services for Your Home," you're losing clicks to the competitor whose ad says "Seattle Emergency Plumber - Available Now." Specificity wins in PPC.

15. Are you using all available ad extensions?

Ad extensions (now called "assets" in Google Ads) increase your ad's size and click-through rate at no extra cost per click. Check that you have: sitelinks (at least 4), callout extensions, structured snippets, call extensions (if phone matters), and location extensions (if local). Missing extensions is like leaving free real estate on the results page.

16. What's your ad strength rating?

Google rates RSA strength as Poor, Average, Good, or Excellent. While this isn't a perfect metric, "Poor" rated ads consistently underperform. Check your ad strength across all active ad groups. Any "Poor" ads should be rewritten immediately. Aim for "Good" or better across the board.

17. When was the last time you refreshed ad copy?

Ad fatigue is real. If your ads haven't been updated in 6+ months, they're stale. Check your click-through rates over time. If CTR has been declining month over month, it's time to test new messaging. Don't change everything at once. Test new headlines in your top-spending ad groups first, measure for 2-3 weeks, then roll out winners.

Bidding and Budget (Checks 18-21)

18. Is your bid strategy appropriate for your data volume?

Smart bidding strategies (Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions) need conversion data to work properly. Google recommends at least 30 conversions in the last 30 days per campaign for Target CPA, and 50+ for Target ROAS. If your campaigns don't hit these thresholds, you're feeding the algorithm too little data. Consider using Maximize Clicks or Manual CPC until you have enough conversion volume, then switch.

19. Are any campaigns "Limited by Budget"?

Check the Status column for all campaigns. "Limited by Budget" means Google could show your ads more but your daily budget caps it. If a budget-limited campaign has a strong CPA or ROAS, you're leaving profitable conversions on the table. Either increase the budget or reduce bids to stretch the same budget across more of the day.

20. What does your day-of-week and hour-of-day performance look like?

Go to Campaigns > Ad Schedule. Check performance by day of week and hour of day. Most businesses see significant variation. If Saturday converts at half the rate of Tuesday, consider reducing bids on Saturday or pausing weekend spend entirely. If 70% of your conversions happen between 8am and 6pm, don't waste money showing ads at 3am. Set an ad schedule that matches your actual conversion patterns.

21. Are you using audience bid adjustments?

Layer audiences (remarketing lists, in-market segments, customer match) onto your search campaigns in "Observation" mode. After 30 days, check which audiences convert better or worse than average. Apply bid adjustments accordingly. Someone who's visited your site before is worth a higher bid. Someone in-market for your category is more likely to convert. Use this data.

Landing Pages and Conversion Tracking (Checks 22-25)

22. Does every ad group point to a relevant landing page?

Click through your own ads for your top 10 ad groups. Does the landing page match what the ad promised? If your ad says "Free Trial" and the landing page is your homepage, you're losing conversions. Every ad group should point to a landing page that continues the exact conversation the ad started. Homepages are almost never the right landing page for PPC traffic.

23. How fast do your landing pages load on mobile?

Run your top landing pages through Google's PageSpeed Insights. Mobile load time directly impacts both Quality Score and conversion rate. If your landing page takes more than 3 seconds to load on mobile, you're paying for clicks that bounce before the page even renders. A 1-second improvement in load time can increase conversion rates by 10-20%.

24. Is your conversion tracking accurate and complete?

This is the most important check on this entire list. Go to Tools > Conversions. Verify that: all conversion actions are recording data, the tracking tag fires correctly (use Google Tag Assistant to test), you're not double-counting conversions, your conversion window is appropriate for your sales cycle, and you're tracking both primary conversions (purchases, leads) and secondary conversions (add to cart, form starts). If your conversion data is wrong, every decision you make based on it is wrong too.

25. Are you tracking revenue or just conversions?

If you're an e-commerce business, make sure you're passing actual transaction values into Google Ads, not just counting conversion events. Knowing you got 50 conversions is useful. Knowing those 50 conversions generated $12,400 in revenue is actionable. Revenue-based bidding (Target ROAS) can only work if Google knows what each conversion is worth. Without revenue tracking, you're optimizing blind.

How to Score Your PPC Audit

Count the checks you passed:

Checks Passed	PPC Health	What to Do Next
22-25	Strong	Focus on incremental optimization: ad testing, audience layering, bid adjustments
16-21	Good foundation	Fix structural issues first, then optimize keywords and ads
10-15	Needs work	Prioritize conversion tracking, negative keywords, and campaign structure
Under 10	Major gaps	Consider pausing spend until foundational issues are resolved

The 5 Highest-Impact Fixes

If your audit revealed multiple issues, here's where to start. These five fixes typically recover the most wasted spend in the shortest time:

1. Fix conversion tracking first. Nothing else matters if your data is wrong. Verify every conversion action, test the tags, check for duplicates.
2. Review search terms and add negatives. This is the fastest way to cut waste. A thorough search term review typically identifies 10-20% of spend going to irrelevant queries.
3. Separate brand from non-brand. If they're combined, your reporting is fiction. Split them, set separate budgets, and evaluate each on its own merits.
4. Fix location targeting. Switch from "Presence or interest" to "Presence only." This alone can reduce wasted impressions by 5-15% depending on your business.
5. Reallocate budget to winners. Take money from high-CPA campaigns and give it to low-CPA campaigns that are budget-constrained. Do this monthly.

When to Hire a PPC Agency

You can handle most items on this checklist yourself. Google Ads is complex, but it's not mysterious. The interface tells you everything if you know where to look.

Consider hiring help when:

• You're spending $20K+/month and don't have a dedicated person managing the account
• You need to scale into new campaign types (Performance Max, YouTube, Demand Gen) and lack experience
• Your account has years of accumulated cruft that needs a structural rebuild

Don't hire an agency when:

• They can't explain their management fee structure clearly
• They won't give you direct access to the Google Ads account
• They guarantee a specific CPA or ROAS without seeing your account first
• You haven't done the basics on this checklist yet

Related Audit Guides

• Marketing Audit Template -- the complete 5-channel framework
• The 40-Point Marketing Channel Checklist -- quick checks across all channels
• Facebook Ads Audit Checklist -- 20 checks for your Meta ad account
• SEO Audit Checklist -- 25 checks for organic search
• Email Marketing Audit -- 20 checks for flows and campaigns
• Small Business Marketing Audit -- audit everything in one weekend